Will Power edged fellow Team Penske driver Simon Pagenaud to the fastest lap on the first day of practice for the 2019 Indianapolis 500.
Power’s best of 39.1738s (229.745mph, 369.739km/h) in the #12 Chevrolet came with the assistance of a tow as he and the Frenchman worked together on Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Pagenaud ended up only 0.042mph (0.068km/h) slower in the #22 Chevrolet, while Ed Carpenter was third fastest by virtue of the 39.3610s (228.653mph, 367.981km/h) which he set in the Oval Veterans session that kicked off the day’s proceedings.
Helio Castroneves (#3 Chevrolet) similarly ended up fourth in the Indianapolis-only Team Penske entry, as did Colton Herta (Harding Steinbrenner Racing) in the first of the Honda-powered cars.
Herta was also responsible for the only yellow flag not necessitated by debris when he looped Car #88 while exiting the pits late in the afternoon.
“I think that was him pushing to leave pit lane, to essentially try and get into traffic as quickly as he could.”
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— NTT IndyCar Series (@IndyCar) May 14, 2019
Ed Jones was 10th fastest but best in terms of non-towed laps at an average speed of 224.542mph (361.365km/h) in the #63 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet.
Scott Dixon (#9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) was 13th but did record the highest figure through the speed trap at 236.128mph (380.011km/h).
Fernando Alonso (#66 McLaren Racing Chevrolet) was 32nd having completed only one lap in the afternoon session, and James Davison (#33 Dale Coyne Racing w/ Byrd-Hollinger-Belardi Honda) 36th.
Both Alonso and Davison came after three of the four Schmidt Peterson Hondas which James Hinchcliffe drove during the day.
Patricio O’Ward will start Day 2 early in order to complete his rookie orientation after encountering a gearbox problem in the #31 Carlin Chevrolet.
Results: Practice: Day 1
| Pos | Num | Driver | C/E/T | Time | Avg speed | Laps | |
| mph | km/h | ||||||
| 1 | 12 | Will Power | D/C/F | 0:39.1738 | 229.745 | 369.739 | 68 |
| 2 | 22 | Simon Pagenaud | D/C/F | 0:39.1810 | 229.703 | 369.671 | 81 |
| 3 | 20 | Ed Carpenter | D/C/F | 0:39.3610 | 228.653 | 367.981 | 105 |
| 4 | 3 | Helio Castroneves | D/C/F | 0:39.3974 | 228.441 | 367.640 | 67 |
| 5 | 88 | Colton Herta (R) | D/H/F | 0:39.4246 | 228.284 | 367.387 | 74 |
| 6 | 18 | Sebastien Bourdais | D/H/F | 0:39.4318 | 228.242 | 367.320 | 110 |
| 7 | 26 | Zach Veach | D/H/F | 0:39.4506 | 228.133 | 367.144 | 109 |
| 8 | 27 | Alexander Rossi | D/H/F | 0:39.4631 | 228.061 | 367.029 | 92 |
| 9 | 98 | Marco Andretti | D/H/F | 0:39.4736 | 228.000 | 366.930 | 81 |
| 10 | 63 | Ed Jones | D/C/F | 0:39.4795 | 227.966 | 366.876 | 105 |
| 11 | 21 | Spencer Pigot | D/C/F | 0:39.5021 | 227.836 | 366.666 | 128 |
| 12 | 28 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | D/H/F | 0:39.5358 | 227.642 | 366.354 | 80 |
| 13 | 9 | Scott Dixon | D/H/F | 0:39.5730 | 227.428 | 366.010 | 97 |
| 14 | 30 | Takuma Sato | D/H/F | 0:39.6042 | 227.249 | 365.722 | 90 |
| 15 | 48 | JR Hildebrand | D/C/F | 0:39.6125 | 227.201 | 365.645 | 113 |
| 16 | 19 | Santino Ferrucci (R) | D/H/F | 0:39.6330 | 227.083 | 365.455 | 95 |
| 17 | 2 | Josef Newgarden | D/C/F | 0:39.6474 | 227.001 | 365.323 | 60 |
| 18 | 10 | Felix Rosenqvist (R) | D/H/F | 0:39.6774 | 226.829 | 365.046 | 81 |
| 19 | 25 | Conor Daly | D/H/F | 0:39.6963 | 226.721 | 364.872 | 99 |
| 20 | 15 | Graham Rahal | D/H/F | 0:39.7354 | 226.498 | 364.513 | 90 |
| 21 | 32 | Kyle Kaiser (R) | D/C/F | 0:39.7509 | 226.410 | 364.372 | 10 |
| 22 | 23 | Charlie Kimball | D/C/F | 0:39.8507 | 225.843 | 363.459 | 69 |
| 23 | 7 | James Hinchcliffe | D/H/F | 0:39.9117 | 225.498 | 362.904 | 5 |
| 24 | 14 | Tony Kanaan | D/C/F | 0:39.9161 | 225.473 | 362.864 | 66 |
| 25 | 5 | James Hinchcliffe | D/H/F | 0:39.9582 | 225.235 | 362.481 | 99 |
| 26 | 60 | Jack Harvey | D/H/F | 0:39.9641 | 225.202 | 362.427 | 85 |
| 27 | 59 | Max Chilton | D/C/F | 0:40.0274 | 224.846 | 361.855 | 76 |
| 28 | 77 | James Hinchcliffe | D/H/F | 0:40.0369 | 224.793 | 361.769 | 6 |
| 29 | 7 | Marcus Ericsson (R) | D/H/F | 0:40.0532 | 224.701 | 361.621 | 83 |
| 30 | 24 | Sage Karam | D/C/F | 0:40.0686 | 224.615 | 361.483 | 32 |
| 31 | 4 | Matheus Leist | D/C/F | 0:40.1150 | 224.355 | 361.064 | 85 |
| 32 | 66 | Fernando Alonso | D/C/F | 0:40.1496 | 224.162 | 360.754 | 50 |
| 33 | 42 | Jordan King (R) | D/H/F | 0:40.1834 | 223.973 | 360.450 | 42 |
| 34 | 39 | Pippa Mann | D/C/F | 0:40.1948 | 223.910 | 360.348 | 25 |
| 35 | 31 | Max Chilton | D/C/F | 0:40.2646 | 223.521 | 359.722 | 13 |
| 36 | 33 | James Davison | D/H/F | 0:40.2660 | 223.514 | 359.711 | 30 |
| 37 | 77 | Oriol Servia | D/H/F | 0:40.3063 | 223.290 | 359.350 | 60 |
| 38 | 81 | Ben Hanley (R) | D/C/F | 0:40.6235 | 221.547 | 356.545 | 14 |
| 39 | 60 | James Hinchcliffe | D/H/F | 0:40.8157 | 220.503 | 354.865 | 5 |
(C)hassis: D=Dallara | (E)ngine: C=Chevy, H=Honda | (T)yre: F=Firestone
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